


First Time, Last Time

by BelaCinderella



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey whiskey, M/M, Marriage Proposal, McGenji - Freeform, Post-Recall, Pre-Recall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 19:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9673349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BelaCinderella/pseuds/BelaCinderella
Summary: The first Valentine's Day Jesse and Genji spend together dating, and the last time.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hanamura](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hanamura/gifts).



> Part of the McGenji Valentine's Day gift exchange. Gifted to [genjitxt](http://genjitxt.tumblr.com/) on tumblr.  
> Prompts: first time valentine; proposing on valentines day

The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, filling the air with their sweet aroma. A lazy breeze floated through Hanamura, stirring the boughs of the trees and shaking little petals off. They drifted down to the pond in the middle of the castle compound, which had finally unthawed after the mild winter.

“The cherry trees are blooming early this year,” Genji said wistfully, looking at them from the castle terrace, “usually they do not open until March.” 

“Well, maybe they sensed it was a special time,” McCree said, smiling. 

“Perhaps. They are very old trees. Mother always said there was magic in cherry trees.” 

There was only a little downtime between missions for the two of them to spend together, with Genji working with Overwatch proper and Jesse running missions with Blackwatch. The two weren’t even in the same country, let alone on the same base, so seeing each other proved difficult. Which is why, when McCree requested a week off and a plane ticket to Japan, Reyes had signed the paper work with minimal fuss. 

Meeting up with Genji in Hanamura had been easy, breaking into the castle proved more difficult. Luckily it was only an outpost now for what was left of the Shimada crime organization, and the few guards on duty had been dispatched quickly, which left the castle grounds to the pair to enjoy. 

“Jesse, did you know that my father had that bell recast for my mother?” 

“No, that was never in the reports about the Shimada Castle.” 

“I would hardly call this a castle. We don’t have enough towers.” 

“Yeah, but y’all got dragons, so I think this is a castle.” 

“As long as I am not the princess.” 

Jesse said nothing for a moment. “Tell me about the bell.” 

“It was for their 20th anniversary together. My mother loved that little building, loved to sit and look out over the cliff down into the city. She also meditated in the morning there. She would come out every day, when the sun was coming up over the horizon, bright yellow like a great egg yolk, she said. She greeted the sun, letting it wash over her face while she kneeled. But she thought the room was missing something. There was a bell, but it was small. She wanted something that would be behind her to remind her of her fortune every morning. The sun in front of her and her family behind her. 

“So my father commissioned a greater bell. It had the Shimada family dragons on it, a symbol of our family heritage and what we command. He had it installed over night, before the day of their anniversary. I know because he made us all wake up before our mother that day, and we were waiting for her in that building when she came out to meditate. She cried when she saw the bell, she loved it. We all meditated with her that morning.” 

McCree said nothing, looking at the bell in the distance, watching the setting sun glint off of its cast bronze. 

“Well, I may not be able to get you a bell, but I gotcha something else,” McCree said, finally straightening up from the railing and walking towards the castle door. 

“You got me something?” 

“Yeah, a present of sorts. Just something small, y’know, for Valentine’s Day.” 

“Oh yes, it is February 14th, isn’t it. I hope your gift isn’t anything too gaudy.” 

“Darlin’, not to be mean, but you’re a shiny cyborg ninja, I think you’re plenty gaudy as it is. Besides, I know for a fact you polish yourself when you think no one is looking.” 

“I might not be able to shower, but I can keep myself clean.” 

“There’s a difference between clean and spit shined. You positively gleam. Blinding in the sunlight.” Genji seemed to preen a little. “Besides, didn’t you tell me you used to have green hair?” 

“When I was a teenager!” spluttered Genji. 

“Then I hardly think ‘gaudy’ is something you need to worry about.” 

They were in the small back room of the castle, behind the main chamber. With a flourish McCree pulled something from under his serape. It was a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey whiskey. 

“A bottle of liquor, McCree?” 

“Yeah. I know you Japanese can put away a good amount of alcohol, maybe not as much as your good old fashioned American cowboy, but still. And I heard from a little bird in your recon sector that you have a taste for American whiskey. But this ain’t no ordinary whiskey, my dear, this one is made with Southern Tupelo honey, which is nearly as sweet as you, darlin’,” Genji laughed as McCree waved him over to a little table in the room, “and that’s not all. I found the kitchen and a couple of glasses. Would you like some on the rocks or neat?” 

Genji liked his whiskey with one ice cube and McCree liked his neat. Genji’s faceplate hissed as he removed it, revealing the crisscross of scars and burn tissue on his face, the lights in the castle illuminating his deep brown eyes. He smiled at McCree, a sight that McCree never got used to with how little he got to see it. They sat on little cushions on the floor and easy conversation passed between them until they heard the front gate buzzer sound. 

McCree had taken pains to get dinner delivered with minimal fuss. The driver had raised his eyebrow when he opened the gate, but smiled when McCree slid in a hefty tip and gave a small bow as he left. Bringing the food back, he laid it out on the table with plates and cutlery from the kitchen. 

“This ain’t no candlelight dinner, but…” McCree trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck as Genji looked over the scene. 

“It is the thought, Jesse, and I appreciate it very much. Valentine’s Day or not, spending time with you is always a welcome respite from Overwatch. I only wish we could see each other more often.” 

“Me too, darlin’,” McCree agreed. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Jesse.” 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Genji.” 

XXX

Four years passed. McCree and Genji were together. Apart. McCree in Germany, Genji in Switzerland. McCree in America, Genji in Japan. Genji in Brazil, McCree in Russia. Four years together. Hundreds of missions apart. McCree left Blackwatch, left a note to Genji, and went to America. The Swiss HQ blew up. Genji went to New Mexico with the note. McCree was wanted. And gone. Genji went to Nepal. Five years passed. 

XXX

The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, filling the air with their sweet aroma. A lazy breeze floated through Hanamura, stirring the boughs of the trees and shaking little petals off. 

“It has been half a decade, Jesse,” Genji said to the man leaning on the railing next to him. 

“The cherry blossoms are blooming early this year,” McCree said. 

“We both answer the recall and you have barely spoken to me. You leave me a note? ‘Remember where our first Valentine’s Day was?’ Jesse…” 

“We’ve been busy.” 

“You have been avoiding me.” 

“I have not.” Accusatory silence settled between them, unspoken words hanging heavy in the air. 

“Jesse, you hardly speak to me in the common room, you always get Winston to send you away on missions, you avoid me in training … why haven’t you spoken to me?” 

McCree sighed, “you’re always with your monk friend and I know that I left you back when I left Blackwatch. It wasn’t … it wasn’t professional. Or fair to you. I just, I don’t know, I got skittish. When I got the opportunity to leave, I took it." A long silence, Jesse breathed in, "It was a stupid move. And then, when I came back with the recall, and you did too … I wasn’t sure you’d want to even see me again. I was being cordial but I didn’t want…” 

Genji waited a moment after McCree trailed off, “you didn’t want what?” 

“Well, I don’t know. I didn’t want to hurt you. Or let myself get hurt. I didn’t want to be so friendly that you would think I forgot how rude I was. I didn’t want you to get mad at me. I didn’t want to … think about how I left you, Genji. It was, in all honesty, the dumbest thing I’ve ever done … and once I raced a horse bareback while drunk to prove I could.” 

Genji laughed, leaning on the railing to look out over the swaying cherry trees. 

McCree continued, a little more quietly, “so the note, and I figured if you remembered and you came, we could, I don’t know,” he chuckled softly looking at the ceiling. 

“Pick up where we left off?” Genji said. 

“No, that’s not… we didn’t, well, I didn’t leave us in a very good spot, did I?” 

“Jesse, come here,” Genji took McCree’s hand. They walked side by side in easy silence back into the castle. They stopped for a moment to look at the dragon tapestry that hung in the great hall, the green and blue dragons intertwined over the mountains. 

“You know, your brother is an incredibly um, complicated guy,” McCree said. 

“Yes, I know. He is difficult to get along with sometimes, but give him time.” 

“You think he’ll loosen up?” 

“My brother has not always been the way he is now. It’s true, he’s always been more reserved and…” 

“Uptight.” 

Genji chuckled, “yes, I suppose. Poor _aniki,_ he’s always found it hard to get along with people. It may take him a long time to get comfortable, if he ever does. But please, for my sake, be nice to him.” 

“Does he have a dragon too?” 

“Yes. They are something to behold.” 

“What, he’s got more than one?” 

Genji laughed again, “yes, he has two, and he can send them out onto the battlefield. They will follow an arrows trajectory until they are exhausted.” 

McCree whistled, “y’all Shimadas are something.” 

“That is true. But this isn’t where I was going. Come, follow me,” Genji pulled him towards that small room in the back. As they stepped in, McCree saw the food spread on the table and the bottle of Tennessee Honey Whiskey on the sideboard. “I thought, if we’re coming back here, might as well do something similar to the last time we were here,” Genji said, standing up straight, preening a little at how well everything had come together. 

“Aw darlin’ you shouldn’t have.” 

“Perhaps, but indulge me. I do not think we will get this chance again when Overwatch starts to get busy.” Genji said the whiskey was for after dinner and the broke open a very expensive bottle of wine from Genji’s father’s extensive wine cellar. Genji removed his faceplate and McCree caught himself staring. 

“No matter how many times I take this off, Jesse, you always give me the same look.” 

“I can’t help it. I don’t get to see your face so often, and so it’s always like seeing it for the first time. Call me sappy, but I can’t get over seeing your eyes, Genji, they’re always, I don’t know…” McCree trailed off, “I’m no poet but they are incredible.” 

Genji smiled, looking down at the table, “it is nice to hear that, Jesse, especially from you,” he laughed, “the monks never complimented me half as nicely as you do.” 

Conversation was smooth, and they discussed everything from Winston running Overwatch and Talon’s increasing threat across northern Europe, to Genji’s time in Nepal and how he meditates every morning with Zenyatta out on the walkways that overlook the Mediterranean Ocean. 

When dinner finished, they moved to sit outside again, taking blankets and cushions out to the little shrine on the castle terrace, cracking open the whiskey as the soft breeze took on a nighttime chill. 

After more small talk, and another small snifter of whiskey, McCree breathed in deeply, “Genji, I gotta know. Are we … are we gonna go back to the way things were. Are we…” 

Genji sat up, looking very sober, “Jesse, I never thought we were … over. I spent my time in the monastery believing that you were in America keeping your head low and that’s why we never saw each other. We just haven’t spoken in a long time. Are you telling me now I was wrong?” 

McCree opened and closed his mouth, “oh Genji, I’m sorry, I figured that since I left you like that you wanted nothing to do with me anymore, and-” 

“If I wanted nothing to do with you, why would I come here? Why would I make dinner? Why would I go out of my way, to America, to find this bottle of whiskey?” 

McCree looked up at the sky, blinking his eyes and biting his bottom lip, “Genji, I just didn’t want assume,” he said softly. 

“Jesse McCree, you fool, I love you.” 

McCree closed his eyes and smiled, reveling in the moment, before opening them, “then I suppose this wasn’t wishful thinking.” 

“No, of course not-” 

“Not the date, this,” McCree unwrapped himself from his blanket and got on one knee, “I wasn’t sure if this was a dumb idea. Angela said it wasn’t, so...” 

“Jesse, what are you doing?” 

From the pocket on his shirt, underneath his serape, McCree pulled out a small box, “I know this ain't no bell, but ... Genji Shimada,” Jesse opened the box, revealing a ring, platinum band with a cushion cut diamond with a small emerald on either side, “will you do me the honor of making the happiest cowboy on this earth?” 

Genji, deep brown eyes shining with tears, nodded, “yes, of course, Jesse, of course I will marry you.” 

The cherry blossoms were in full bloom under the moon. There was magic in the cherry trees after all.


End file.
